Love/Hate actor Johnny Ward has told of his devastation after his character Pauley was killed off.

Viewers were left stunned by the bloody episode which saw the gang enforcer shoved from a balcony to his death by lover Siobhan.

Johnny, 27, said: “I was absolutely devastated because I was having such a good time. It was always in the back of my mind I could get killed off.”

Mobster Pauley was pushed to his death by his rat girlfriend Siobhan.

The gang enforcer, sent to keep an eye on Nidge, was dramatically killed off in the latest bloody and brutal episode.

Minutes after proposing to her, Pauley realises Siobhan is a Garda rat and she shoves him off her balcony.

Johnny Ward, 27, who plays the gangster, said he was in bits after being killed off in the hit crime drama.

He admitted: “I was absolutely devastated because I was having such a good time in Love/Hate and had made so many new friends. It was always in the back of my mind I could get killed off as Pauley was treading on thin ice but I honestly thought Tommy was going to wake up and kill me. Not Siobhan.

“Myself and Charlie [Siobhan Murphy] were both very surprised I got killed off but the two of us wanted it to look as realistic and as believable as possible so each day building up to the scene we would practice it over and over until both of us were happy.”

Siobhan had been playing a dangerous game with gangster Pauley by sleeping with him – then feeding information back to the cops.

But when doctors tell her Tommy could soon recover from his coma, she decides she isn’t going back to him. In last night’s episode, Nidge’s niece told Det Moynihan about a secret meeting her boyfriend and uncle were having at the zoo.

Charlie Murphy Siobhan

The Garda sent his undercover cops to spy on the lads but they were spotted by Pauley.

He had proposed to his stunning girlfriend but just as she is about to accept she makes a terrible mistake and mentions him having been to the zoo.

The gangster confronts Siobhan about being a rat before she pushes him to his death.

Elsewhere, Nidge visits Noely Hughes in jail telling him about how Fran dug up his mother’s grave and kept one of the fingers from her corpse. The crime lord also starts working on his next job and after discovering Ado’s missus Nadine is having an affair with Scotty, the gang boss hires him as their driver.

But little does he know Scotty is actually working for Moynihan as an undercover cop.

Ado is given the task of gunning down Traveller Patrick but instead recruits born-again recovering addict Traveller Packy, who owes money to the gang.

Pauley falls to his death

However, it all goes badly wrong when Packy misses his target and instead hits his little boy Brandon in the head.

The child survives but Nidge now knows Trish and his two young boys are fair game, forcing them to flee.

Packy, captured by the Travellers after the hit, is taken to a lonely scrapyard where Patrick cuts his throat.

But the biggest drama was saved until the end with Pauley’s untimely death.

Despite his gloom at leaving, Johnny said being involved in the hit RTE series was one of the best gigs.

He added: “It was an amazing experience. It was one of the most exciting but also intimidating roles that I have ever had to take on.

“All the other cast members knew each other and I was worried I might not gel into the Love/Hate family.

“However, they made me feel so welcome and made me look forward to going in each day.”